The Terminator 2:Judgement Day
by Serinidia
Summary: This picks up right after the Terminator pulls the semi over in the 2nd movie. What if the Terminator hadn't died? K for some swear words. There aren't many though! D
1. Surviving the Mill

**Authors Note: This was inspired from watching the movie, I have changed some of events from the movie, so that it will fit the rest of the story. The Terminator does not loose his arm in the fight with the T-1000, nor does he die in the end. This is so that the story will be able to continue. I am not sure how soon I will be able to update do to school, but I promise it will be as soon as possible!**

**Whenever *************************** appears across the page it means that there is either a change of character poverty or a change of scene. **

**Enjoy, and pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssse review!!!!**

Chapter 1: Surviving the Mill

The eighteen wheeler was jerked off balance as the Terminator quickly jerked the steering wheel to the left as the T-1000 struggled to regain control. Sliding on its side the truck screeched its way towards the factory's open doors. The Terminator perched himself on the passenger's side door bracing himself for the leap that he would need to perform in a couple of seconds.

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John tried to steer the pick-up truck away from the mill, but he soon realized that it was impossible to accomplish. Resignedly he steered the truck into the factory, all the while slamming his foot on the brakes. The pick up's wheels screeched as the rear of the car weaved back and forth.

The pick up came to a stop as it crashed into the steel wall. The airbags inflated and Sarah yelped as pain shot through her leg.

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The truck was about to slam into the factory when the Terminator leapt from his fragile perch. Rolling to lessen the force of its impact with the concrete ground, the Terminator was unable to avoid hitting the huge base of one the mill's huge machines. The impact was absorbed through his legs and several of the servos were severely damaged.

Weakly the Terminator manages to roll over and push itself up onto and elbow, watching as the semi slid into the factory. The truck was jammed in between the doors momentarily before the momentum wrenched it from the frame and halfway into the steel mill's bay.

The truck's precious cargo of Nitrogen flooded out from the cracked tank. The T-1000 pulled itself out from inside the truck slowly, before leaping over the side. Nitrogen gasses and liquid congealed around the machine as it sought a good foothold. Stepping down, the T-1000 put all of its weight on one foot. The foot broke off from the leg when its owner moved to take another step.

Caught off balance, the T-1000 put one of its flailing arms down to catch keep from falling. A loud cry of surprise and pain tore itself from the machine's mouth as its arm simply _shattered_.

The Terminator got to its feet weakly and picked up the gun, watching impassively as the Nitrogen started to freeze the T-1000.

"Hasta la vista, baby." The machine said as it pulled the trigger.

The T-1000 exploded into a million fragments as the bullet slammed into it.

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"Come on Mom." John urged his mother out of the wrecked pick up. Blood trickled down his chin from his bloody nose.

Sarah gasped as pain shot through her injured leg. Stifling a scream she allowed John to urge her to her feet. Hobbling, Sarah leaned most of her weight on her son as they moved towards the Terminator.

"We need to go." The Terminator stated softly.

John was looking around his mother at his friend when he noticed that the nitrogen was melting. And the T-1000's liquid alloy was forming back into a huge puddle. Somehow John knew that in a few minutes, the T-1000 would start to reform.

And then it would come after them.

Turning his mother so that they were facing the other end of the mill he started moving forward.

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The Terminator knew that they weren't going to get out of the mill in time to ditch the

T-1000. But he also knew that he had to give John and Sarah at least a _chance_ to get further away from their antagonist. Turning around slowly-to avoid stumbling on malfunctioning legs-he walked over to Sarah's free side and looped her arm over his shoulder. Together they started walking down the steel corridor.

They made it to the two smelters before Sarah managed to gasp, "It's too hot."

With a sigh they turned around, and headed back down the corridor. The Terminator turned down a darker corridor moving quickly, half carrying Sarah.

Looking back, he saw the vague shape of the T-1000 following them. He stopped and turned towards John.

"You must go." The Terminator said sternly, in a no-nonsense tone.

John shook his head, not wanting to leave the machine.

"You must go, now!" This time the Terminator demanded it.

"No! We need to stick together!" John cried.

"Go now!" This time the Terminator gave John a gentle shove in the opposite direction.

Sarah nodded in agreement. Limping slowly she started forwards, forcing John to go.

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John knew that this could be the last time that he would ever see the Terminator. He realized then that he would feel lost, alone, even abandoned if the Terminator was unable to make it through the upcoming fight.

_I'm just being silly. _He told himself sternly, shaking his head._ It is just a machine after all. Its not like it can really __feel__ anything…_

_Or can it?_ His thoughts were interrupted as his mother fell to her knees beside him.

"Come on Mom! You can't give up. Come on!" He begged his mother, tears of fear and grief tracking paths down his face. He pulled on his Mom's arm desperately. "Come on Mom, you can't give up now. We gotta keep going!"

************************************************************************

With a small groan Sarah got to her feet shakily. The only reason why she had found the strength to do so was because of her son. He was so scared, like a rabbit that's been cornered by a pack of snarling wolves. She knew that John was trying so hard not to show how scared he really was, and her heart went out to him.

There was a loud bang from behind them, and she glanced back over her shoulder just in time to see the Terminator's gun go flying. Urgently she forced her legs to move even faster.

Half stumbling she and John made it up the metal staircase. Once on the landing they paused and turned around to watch the two machines battle.

************************************************************************

The Terminator tried to load his gun with the last remaining grenade quickly, but with his damaged hands he was unable to. He almost had it in the slot when the T-1000 smacked the entire gun out of his hands.

After glancing at the direction the gun had gone flying for a few seconds the Terminator turned and threw the T-1000 up against the wall, extremely hard. Instead of turning around, the T-1000 morphed itself so that instead its front facing the steel wall, it was facing the Terminator.

It launched itself at the Terminator, who used his good arm to punch the T-1000 in the face.

Or at least tried too.

The Terminator's arm went through the T-1000's head. Shifting its body so that its head was to the side, the T-1000 grabbed the Terminator's arm and slammed him into a complex piece of machinery. There was a huge pleated metal wheel that was attached to some chains and was on top of a long rectangular sheet of iron. The T-1000 quickly shoved the Terminator's arm under the wheel before turning the mechanism.

There was a sickening _crunch_ as the arm was smashed and trapped beneath the machinery.

************************************************************************

Sarah gasped in horror as she saw the T-1000 appear out of the haze. There was no sign of the Terminator.

Quickly she ordered John to go down the chain and onto the assembly line that headed towards the smelter. She watched as her son moved further away from her.

_So much for a goodbye_, she thought bitterly.

Turning she braced herself for facing the T-1000. Leaning against the fence surrounding the pit that led to the assembly belt, she pulled up her gun and aimed.

The hail of bullets that she was able to loose upon the T-1000 seemed to have no effect on the machine. Before she knew it the _thing_ was directly upon her.

************************************************************************

John felt a sickening wave of horror sweep through his conscience. The T-1000 had somehow managed to get past the Terminator.

Suddenly he felt his mother's hands on his back as she urged him to go down the chain. Scrambling he managed to scurry down the chain quickly.

He glanced up and to his dismay saw that his mother had no intention of following him.

"Mom, come on!" He half screamed the words, trying to get his mother to join him.

Then the flat surface of the conveyer belt started moving, and then he could no longer see his mother.

************************************************************************

The T-1000 hurled Sarah against the wall and advanced towards her. Reaching out it pulled Sarah up into a sitting position. Then arm transforming into the equivalent of a thin sword it impaled her through the shoulder. Sarah cried out as pain tore through her.

"Call John."

Sarah shook her head no.

The T-1000 twisted the blade, causing her to scream.

"I know this hurts." It said calmly. "Now, call John!"

"Fuck you!" Was Sarah's heated reply.

************************************************************************

The Terminator's gears whined furiously as the machine strained to free its arm from the giant mechanism that had been used by the T-1000 to jam his arm. Looking around for something to pry the jaws of the mechanism open so that he could free his arm. There was an iron bar that was resting up against the wall.

Servos whining in protest to the overload of work that was being exerted, the Terminator strained to reach it.

Almost….

Almost…

…. Got it!

Jamming the rod into the mechanism he was able to wrench the useless, damaged arm free. Using the rod as a support the Terminator got to his feet and followed the T-1000.

After limping up the stairs, the machine decided that stealth would be the best attack mode. Creeping up behind the T-1000 he swung the bar up, before delivering a devastating blow.

The bar slid through the T-1000's head, shoulder, and went down to its naval- splitting it in half. Then it started to reform around the bar. The Terminator cocked his head to the side in a gesture of confusion.

Then before the machine could react, the T-1000 swung the bar upwards, slamming it into the Terminator's face. The Terminator stumbled backwards as the shear force of the blow knocked him off balance. Again, the T-1000 swung the bar up, and again the Terminator received a punishing blow to the face. And then he was up against the wall.

Exactly where the T-1000 wanted him to be. The Terminator gave a frenzied attempt to get to his feet, but it was to no avail.

************************************************************************

Smugly, the T-1000 grasped one of the chains that kept the two-ton I beam suspended in the air. With a heave the machine pulled the girder back before pushing the beam forward.

There was a horrid _crunch_ as the gigantic beam slammed into the Terminator's chest. The metal armor splintered under the pressure. The Terminator turned and gripped the wall behind him as he sought to pull himself into a proper standing position.

The T-1000 heaved it forward again and a smirk filled its face as the beam cracked the Terminator's spine and pelvis. The Terminator sank to his knees rendered almost completely unable to stand.

The third blow hit the Terminator in between the shoulder blades. There was another crunch as the upper back was smashed. The Terminator sagged to the floor, and began to weakly crawl forward.

The Terminator could see the M-79 lying on the ground by the base of one of the huge smelters. Using his good arm he pulled himself toward the gun army crawl style.

There was a step that separated the two floors, and the M-79 was located on the lower elevation.

The T-1000 was walking behind the Terminator, iron bar in hand.

He was so close to reaching the gun. Straining he reached for the gun, but to the machine's dismay the gun was just out of reach. He inched forward a little more, but it was to no avail.

Suddenly the T-1000 raised the bar above its head before sending it crashing into the Terminator's back. The T-1000 wrenched the bar from side to side, widening the small gap. The T-1000 removed the bar, paused for a second, then brought it crashing down again. The Terminator weakly flailed his good arm in a pathetic attempt to ward off his

enemy. The bar punched through the Terminator's power cell and all the way through his chest. Electricity ran the length of the Terminator's body as the power erupted from the cell that had been used to store it.

The Terminator's eyes dimmed and the machine froze as its body shut down.

The T-1000 looked at its handiwork for a minute, before morphing into Sarah Connor.

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"John? John? Can you hear me? Where are you?" Sarah's voice sounded weak and exhausted.

Without pausing to think about the consequences John crept out of his hiding place. The molten steel in the background gave everything a weird orange and hazy glow. His mother was clinging to the railing as she unsteadily made her way towards him. Blood was streaming down her leg, and she could barely move.

"Help me, honey…" the words came out in a gasp.

John started toward his mother when another Sarah came around the corner. This one had a determined look on her face and a loaded gun in her arms.

John looked back at the first Sarah in confusion. Then he noticed that the first Sarah's feet were melding to the floor every time they were moved.

John was horrified as he realized just how close he had come to being killed because he had thrown caution to the wind.

"John, get out of the way!" His mother's voice was pain filled, yet strong and determined at the same time.

John quickly obliged by diving to the side while screaming for his mother to shoot.

The T-1000 turned and morphed back into its police officer form and noticed to late the shotgun in the woman's hand.

Sarah fired rapidly, each shot forcing the machine further away and towards the pit of molten steel.

The T-1000 was now backed up against the railing that enclosed the pit of molten steel. There was a gap in the fence that allowed the pulley system's chain that was next to the gap to pull up buckets of the molten steel. One more shot and the monstrosity in front of her would be gone forever.

She shook the gun again to reload it. She pulled it up and squeezed the trigger. There was a click and nothing happened. The gun was out of ammo. Sarah flung the useless weapon away from her with a cry of despair.

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Sarah knew that they were finished now. There was no hope for them. The Terminator was most likely dead, and now she was completely defenseless. There was the option of having John run while she momentarily distracted the machine, but she knew it would catch him sooner or later. When that happened there would be no Terminator to protect and save him. Ultimately he would die.

And the war would be lost.

But not just the war would be lost. All of humanity would be utterly destroyed.

************************************************************************

The Terminator's arm still lay outstretched from the failed attempt to reach the gun. Eyes flickered and burned red as the Terminator found a new power source.

Looking down, the machine saw the metal pole that was embedded through its body. Stiffly the Terminator grabbed the end that was sticking out of his chest and started to pull the pole out of his body.

It dropped to the floor below with a dull clang.

Reaching down the machine grabbed the M-79 and then determinedly crawled towards the chain drive that was off to the side. He could see Sarah in the opening that was located above the drive.

When the machine reached the drive it quickly pressed the UP button on the console. The drive groaned, and shuttered slightly before moving. The Terminator clambered on with as much grace as a crippled and blind cat would jump onto a fence.

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John ran over to his mother. If he was going to die at least his mother would be next to him. Not that he really _wanted_ to die, but considering the circumstances, any chance for survival seemed pretty bleak.

Suddenly Sarah yelled for him to duck, and pulled him down. They were facing away from the T-1000, and now he was able to see why his mother had made him lie flat on the floor.

The Terminator was cresting the rise of the chain drive, his gun loaded with the last grenade. As soon as the Terminator saw that they were out of the way he fired.

The grenade shot out of the gun and slammed itself into the T-1000's body. The T-1000 looked down in confusion then looked up, rage filling its face before the grenade _exploded_.

The T-1000's body simply _split in half_. There was simply no other way to describe it. The head hung grotesquely over the rest of the twisted body. It swayed, and fought for balance before falling backwards and over the edge of the pit.

An inhuman scream echoed across the factory as the T-1000's head and upper body appeared above the molten steel. Its face morphed several times into the different faces of the people it had killed. John's foster mother appeared as did the asylum guard before it morphed into other faces so quickly they were almost impossible to distinguish. Then the familiar face of a cop reappeared before the T-1000 slipped below the surface.

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The Terminator struggled weakly to get to its feet. The machine made it to its knees before the damaged legs rebelled, causing it to fall. Once again the Terminator sought to regain his feet, and once again the leg servos stuttered a protest before the legs buckled. In an almost resigned fashion the machine started to crawl towards John and Sarah.

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John got to his feet and ran over to his mother. Sarah was holding onto the railing staring at the pit hopefully. Her face was pale from exhaustion and blood loss. She smiled at him tiredly and assured him that she would be fine.

Behind him, John heard a strange whirring sound, and he instinctively knew that it was the Terminator. There was a clunk and muttered swear word before there was another angry whir followed by a clunk. John turned around to see the pathetic shape of his protector attempting to get on its feet. John ran over to the cyborg, grabbed his arm and pulled upwards for all he was worth.

_Damn, this guy's heavy_, he thought as he tugged even harder. A few seconds later he saw his mother walk around to take the Terminator's other arm. Together they managed to lift the machine to its feet.

John scrutinized the damage with a sinking heart. There was a large gap in the middle of the Terminator's chest, and one arm was clearly damaged beyond use. John could also tell that the metal chest armor had been shattered, and the "bone structure" of the spine, shoulder blades, and pelvis was also severely damaged.

"I need a vacation." the machine muttered softly.

Together all three of them walked over to the edge of the pit. Once the Terminator had a good grip on the railing, Sarah and John let go of him and moved around to the other side to get a better look at the pit. Molten steel swirled and boiled in a vast orange and yellow river.

"Is it dead?" John's question seemed strangely loud in the sudden quiet.

"Terminated." was the Terminator's terse reply.

John took out the fore-arm of the first Terminator and held it up. "Will this melt in there/"

"Yes, throw it in."

John threw the arm into the pit and they watched silently as it sank below the surface.

"And the chip."

John took out the broken chip and looked at it. So much pain and destruction had been caused by this seemingly small and insignificant item. With a shudder he threw it into the pit.

Sarah sighed with relief. "Its finally over."

The Terminator shook his head slowly. "No, there is another chip." He tapped a metal finger to the side of his head. "And it must also be destroyed."

The Terminator looked over at Sarah and saw that she understood what had to be done. There were tears in her eyes.

It took John a few a seconds to realize what the machine was saying. The meaning horrified him.

"No!" John shook his head in denial.

"I'm sorry John." The Terminator moved closer to the edge of the pit, there was a remote control in his hand.

"No, no, no! It'll be okay. Just stay with us!" John's voice cracked as he pleaded desperately with the machine.

"I have to go away, John."

"Don't do it. Please…," John's throat tightened as tears streamed down his face. " don't go!"

The Terminator turned towards John and the lighting hid the human part of his face. The metal gleamed and the eye burned red.

"It must end here…" the Terminator paused briefly to emphasize what he said, before continuing, "or I am the future."

John shook his head as the machine turned back towards the chain that led into the smelter. He decided to change tactics, and remembered how the machine had told him that it was programmed to follow his orders. "I order you not to!"

The Terminator limped stiffly over to him and put his hands on John's shoulders lightly. He turned his face to see John more clearly and as he did the metal half of his face was thrown into the shadows, revealing the human half. Reaching down, he put a metal finger to John's face catching the falling tear.

"I know now why you cry. But it is something I can never do." He stepped back to look at both of them. "Goodbye."

************************************************************************

Sarah's thoughts were a turmoil. Before, when the machine had first rescued her in the asylum she had despised and loathed it. Back then she hadn't trusted the thing as far as she could throw it.

Since then things had changed. Dully, she remembered what she had recorded on the tape recorder. She had been watching John try to teach the machine how to act "cool".

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Watching John with the machine, it was suddenly so clear. The Terminator wouldn't stop. It would never leave him. It would never hurt him or, shout at him, or get dunk and hit him, or say it was too busy to spend time with him. And it _would die_ to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers that came over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only thing that measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sarah smiled sadly and wiped a tear from her eyes. _And now John is loosing this father as well, _the thought was bitter and sad. _And I, I am loosing a new found friend and comrade._

She was shaken out of her reverie as the machine offered her its hand. The two shook hands grimly.

"I can not self terminate." The machine said as it handed her the remote control that was in its good hand. She took it knowing that now she was, in a way, the executioner.

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The Terminator was just about to step into the chain when John tugged on the tattered leather jacket. "What if.." His voice quavered and waited a moment before he spoke again. "What if we copy the chip onto another disk?"

The Terminator paused. "That could be done, but we don't have such a device with us."

"Yeah we do!" John rummaged through his back pack. With a satisfied grin he pulled out a laptop. He handed it to the Terminator. The machine took it and examined the laptop.

"Hold this." The Terminator handed the laptop to John upside-down. John held the machine, brow creased in confusion. The Terminator quickly used his good arm to rip off the back of the laptop, exposing the circuit board.

"Turn it on."

John did as the Terminator asked, and logged in.

"Now, erase the entire memory."

John understood now, why the Terminator had handed him the laptop. It was completely logical to erase the memory already saved on the memory chip. This way the Terminator would be able to transfer the data on his chip to the one in front of them. Slowly the computer began to erase the data stored in its memory.

"Do you have any connection cords?"

"Yeah, uh, hang on." John scrambled over to the backpack and pulled out Old Faithful. Delicately he took the connecting cords out of the hacking device. "Are these good?" He held up the wires.

"Yes. Now, you need to connect them to the computer and to my socket." The Terminator pointed to the exposed plate that protected the socket. Then the Terminator walked completely away from the edge of the pit, and crossed the room before taking a seat. John followed him, with the cords in one hand and the computer in the other.

He looked around the room for his mother. She was sitting up against the wall, sound asleep. He smiled softly, it looked like everything was going to be all right. He connected the cords into the computer, and looked up at the Terminator.

"If I do not come back online after the information is copied, and the new chip is inserted, then you might as well just dump me into the pit." The Terminator gave another attempt at a smile. His upper lip curled into somewhat better smile.

"See, that was better. The more you practice the better you'll get." Taking a deep breath he began to plug in the cords.

"Going offline, now." The Terminator stated. There was a sound that reminded John of powering down a car. The exposed red eye dimmed as the Terminator shut himself off.

A beep was issued from the computer and a window popped up.

There is a device that is trying to copy into the memory drive. Should it be allowed to continue?

John clicked the yes button. The window disappeared and another one popped up. It showed the progress of the download, and below the bar he could see the many files that were being copied.

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An hour later the computer informed him that the download was complete. While he had been waiting he had bandaged his mother's leg and given her a shot of morphine for the pain. She had slept through the entire thing.

Fingers trembling John began to disconnect the cords from the computer. Then he flipped the computer over and began to dismantle the memory chip from the motherboard. At one point there was a shower of sparks and panic shot through him. Had he damaged the chip?

Once he had the chip disconnected from the computer he moved over to kneel at the Terminator's side. He paused a moment before inserting the new chip. He screwed the metal capsule back into place before he stepped back.

Three minutes went by and there was no sign of 'life' from the machine. Even as he began to loose hope he heard a low whirr coming from the machine. The single red eye lit up.

"Coming back online." the Terminator's voice sounded strained, almost as if it were sick. John ran forwards and hugged the machine tightly. He was surprised when he felt the Terminator return the gesture.

Using the notches on the wall beside him, the Terminator pulled himself up onto his feet.

"Throw the chip into the smelter."

John did as he was asked. As he watched the chip sink into the lava he realized how close he had come to loosing his protector. No, not just protector, but his friend, father figure.

When he turned back around he saw the crippled machine standing by the end of the corridor, Sarah in his arms. John grabbed his things and ran over to join them.

*********************************************************************

When Sarah came to she realized that she was being carried by someone. Someone with a tattered leather jacket on. And there was hole in that someone's chest.

Almost hesitantly she allowed her eyes to travel upwards. The Terminator's familiar and stoic face greeted her.

"You're gonna need a lot of repair work, aren't you?"

She heard John call her name with a shout of joy.

"Mom, I did it! I did it! I made it so that he could stay!" John jabbered the words excitedly.

"Affirmative." The Terminator finally answered her question.

"What did I tell you about saying that.?"

"No problemo does not work in this case." Was the Terminator's confused reply. "Or does it?"

"No, it doesn't your were right," John sighed a content agreement before continuing, "but instead of saying _affirmative_ ya say yes. Got it?'

"Yes"

The Terminator scanned the near bye surroundings for a car. His sensors told him that there was a limo in a near by parking lot. He set Sarah down and turned to John.

"I'll be back."

Then he jogged off. Usually his gait was smooth, controlled and effortless, but the damaged leg servos made it harder to keep his balance. He rounded the corner of the parking lot and broke the gate.

************************************************************************

John huffed noisily as he waited for the Terminator to return. His breath misted in puffs from the cold, but right now the cold felt good. There was a screech of tires and a limo stopped right in front of them.

He peered into the driver's cabin and took in the dangling wires. There were no keys in the ignition. He pointed at the wires. "Are we learning yet?"

"There were no keys in the parameter of the vehicle."

"oh."

The Terminator got out of the car opened up the back door and walked over to Sarah. He picked her up delicately and placed her in the back seat.

" Get in."

John scrambled into the back of the car.

The Terminator shut the door and got back in the driver's seat.

The limo sped off into the night with its two passengers fast asleep.

**Authors Note: Well I hope you liked it! Remember reviews are very very nice!**


	2. Viruses and Recovery

**Authors Note: Hi everyone! I would like to thank those of you that were kind enough to hit that little button at the edge of the page and leave a review for me. I will reply to those of you that left a review but don't have an account at the end of the chapter. I told of you the general idea of the plot for the chapter and would like to tell you that it changed quite a bit. This chapter is a bit more relaxing than the last chapter and might be somewhat shorter due to the fact that I am almost completely on my own-no producer's script to help me !! I made it so that the Terminator can feel emotions and sensations like pain and confusion etc. It is explained in the chapter. I forgot to add the disclaimer on the last chapter so here it is now: ** I *sniffle* sadly *sob* don't own the Terminator or any of the characters unless I made them up. *bawls* **Now if we could move past the tragedy of me not owning the Terminator we shall move on. Exams are coming up so I might not be able to update until after Christmas!!! Its very tragic, but please know that I will be committing any free time to the next chapter of this story. ****Also if you have a favorite villain that you would absolutely love to see the Terminator go up against- TELL MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! ****This is very, very vital for the story! Anyways enough of me and on with the story!!!!!**

Chapter 2: Viruses and Recovery

Sarah woke up slowly and squinted as her eyes were forced to take in the bright light that poured in through the window. She yawned and stretched, trying to ease the stiffness from her shoulders. It was then she noticed that she was not in the back of car. Instead she was in a very warm and comfortable bed. There was a nightstand with an alarm clock next to the right side of the bed and across from that there was a dresser. She could see her reflection in the mirror that hung next to the dresser.

How had she gotten here? Sarah rubbed her eyes and closed them. She counted to ten before she reopened her eyes, and gasped as the sight of the room greeted her again. _At least I know that I'm not going crazy._ She thought with a soft smile tugging at the corner of her lips. A sudden burst of laughter sounded from outside her room.

John. It had to be her son, laughing and having fun for the first time in a long time. Sarah knew that he had never been happy while he was shuffled from foster family to foster family. Every time he had managed to make friends the social services seemed to deem that time to move him to another family.

She stretched again, wincing as it pulled on her two injuries, and limped over to the dresser. _Maybe there are some clothes that I can use in here._ The thought raced through her head hopefully. She had been wearing the same horrid asylum clothes for a _very _long time, and they were dirty and battered. An amazed gasp escaped her lips. The drawers were filled with clothes. Fingers trembling she picked up one of the shirts and read the tag. Size small. Her size.

With a broad grin she headed towards the bathroom. She ran the shower for a long time as she scrubbed, rinsed and scrubbed again as she washed away all of the traces of what she had been through. Her hair was tangled and snarled but there was a comb on the shelf next to the shampoo and she used it with quick strokes. Once her hair was untangled she opened the cap of the shampoo and poured it on her head and hands. She worked it into her scalp diligently. She repeated the process twice more before she reluctantly got out of the shower. The towel was warm and fluffy and she briskly rubbed herself down.

She got dressed and looked under the sink for a hairdryer. Remarkably there was one as well as a straightener, a curling iron and a paddle brush. Next to the hair items there was an extremely large make-up bag with the label Clinique. Sarah took out the make-up bag and unzipped it warily. It was all brand new make-up. The bag contained six different mascaras, over 100 different shades of eye shadow, 200 different lip glosses and lipsticks, and 50 different fingernail polishes. Sarah could only look at the bag incredulously as she took in the sight before her. Where had all of this come from?

She would have to ask later when she was finished with her hair and make-up. With a soft sigh of contentment she set to work on her hair.

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John tried to keep the sudden peal of laughter from bursting out of his mouth but that was like trying to jump the moon. The laughter burst out with a strange snorting noise that only made him laugh even harder. The cause for his hysterical laughing fit was the Terminator.

The machine was trying to cook a morning meal of bacon, eggs, sausage and pancakes for John and his mom. There was egg in the Terminator's hair and grease was splattered over the apron that John had made the Terminator buy earlier that morning. His hand traveled along the scraped surface of Old Faithful.

The hacking device had had a very busy morning because the Terminator had made him bring it with him when they went out. The two had spent the morning going to different ATMs and hacking into their systems until they had over three million in cash. Then they had bought the house that they were currently occupying for six-hundred thousand dollars. Next they had gone to Target, CVS, Wal-Mart, Harris Teeter, and Best Buy. For the various clothes the two had gone to Belk's, Dress Barn, Marshall's, American Eagle, Aeropastale, and Abercrombie. After that they had gone to what felt like a billion shoe stores. And of course they had to go and get Sarah some make-up.

When they had gotten home the Terminator had carried Sarah through the already furnished house and into her bedroom. John had moved the covers aside so that the machine could place her in bed. The two had covered her up before heading back downstairs for all of the groceries and began to unpack. The limo had been parked in the huge garage and the Terminator had changed its license plate.

Last night, John had had the best sleep he could remember. There were no dreams about his mother being in an asylum nor were there dreams about an evil machine killing him.

John shifted his attention back to the machine as it tried to crack the egg. _Thwump_, the egg went everywhere except into the bowl. The machine shook his head dismally before taking another egg and trying again. The bacon sizzled in the frying pan as the Terminator cracked the egg again. This time however the machine managed to get it into the bowl. John clapped his hands enthusiastically as the machine managed to flawlessly crack another egg.

"How many pancakes do you want?" The Terminator looked up at John as he asked the question.

"Hmmm…" John thought for a minute as he tried to decide. He didn't want the machine to overwork itself, especially when its damage was so critical. The flesh had somehow healed itself and reformed, but the mechanical parts underneath were still badly damaged and not working properly. "I think I'll have three, and Mom will probably want two."

"How many eggs, bacon strip-" The Terminator paused halfway through the sentence and gazed off into space. The machine seemed to be having a seizure for some reason. John looked up at his friend in concern and puzzlement. Then almost as quickly as the machine had stopped talking it resumed, continuing the sentence where it had left off. "-s, and sausages do you want?" The machine's voice sounded strained.

John was quick to make his reply. "Only two bacon strips. No need to use more eggs or sausages today. We can use them tomorrow. Mom will want two as well, you could cook all four of them at the same time. Just put two more over with the ones already cooking."

The Terminator put away the sausages and eggs before taking out two more bacon strips, then he put away the rest of the bacon. John took out the flour and started to pour it into another bowl, so that he could make more batter. _Pfft!_ The flour poured into the bowl and before John could stop the flow it overflowed the bowl. He yanked the bag up, thus stopping the outpour of the flour. A large cloud of the baking ingredient rose above the bowl. John looked at his arms and torso. Stark white. He clapped his hands and another cloud of white rose into the air. Another laugh leaked out of his mouth.

"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go see if Mom is up yet."

_And I'm going to tell her about your, uh, seizure thing too,_ John thought to himself as he raced up the stairs.

************************************************************************

Sarah turned off the blow dryer and reached for the hair straightner. Just as she slid the first lock of hair into the straightner she heard a knock on the door.

"Mom? Mom are you up?" John's voice sounded worried.

"I'm up, you can come in."

Sarah turned off the light in her bathroom and sat on the edge of her bed as she waited for John. Her son came in slowly. Sarah could barely suppress the laughter as she took in his disheveled appearance. His hair was ruffled and sticking up in different directions and he was covered in some sort of white powder. She padded the comforter next to her as a sign for him to come sit beside her. John took the hint and after shutting the door he sat down next to her gingerly.

"What's wrong John, and where did all of this stuff come from?" Sarah studied her son's face carefully. Worry, fear, confusion, and happiness flashed across his face all at once.

"Lets start from the beginning." John said. "Well to make a long story short, the Terminator realized that we would need somewhere to stay and in order to do that we would need lots of money." He paused as sorted out the order of events.

" Oh god, don't tell me you two went and robbed a bank."

John laughed softly before he replied. "Well not really. I used my hacking machine and we went to a ton of ATMs and we got the money that way. The Terminator made me wear a pink ski mask and sunglasses to hide my identity. Pink!! He wore a green one and sunglasses and he walked stooped over so that they can't tell what height he really is."

Sarah nodded and waited patiently for John to continue. Thank the Lord the Terminator had known to hide their identities. After all the last thing they needed to worry about was the government.

John cleared his throat before continuing. "Well after we got the money we decided to buy the house first. Once we got that done, the Terminator figured that you and I would need to have some clothes, and electronics so that we would have something to do. Then we went to some other stores for your make-up and hygiene care as well as for food and shoes. You slept through the entire thing! When we got home we brought you up here before putting away the groceries."

Sarah nodded her head slowly as she took in what had happened.

"How much money is left?"

"A little over two million."

It was quiet for a while and they listened to the clang of dishes as the Terminator prepared their breakfast for them.

"Mom, this morning when you were sleeping or most likely getting ready, the Terminator was acting kind of weird." John's forehead creased as worry and concern flooded through his thoughts. "It was almost like he had a seizure of some sort."

"What did he do?" Sarah asked, her own brow was creased now. She berated herself mentally. _You stupid idiot! Of course the Terminator's going to have problems with the amount of damage he sustained. Just because he's a machine it doesn't mean that he's invincible. Did you even think about him this morning at all? No, of course not, and yet he's apparently been running around and making sure you have everything you need to be comfortable. He's already stitched you shoulder up, as well your leg. He probably even gave you something for the pain so that you would be able to walk around. _Sarah sighed and looked at her hands dismally. John seemed to have sensed that something was wrong because he looked up at her, concern etched into his features.

"Mom, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay, if the pain medication is wearing off then I'm sure I can get the Terminator to measure out some more pain killers for you." John's voice was concerned and somewhat frantic.

Sarah managed to give him a lopsided smile. "No honey, that's not what is bothering me right now. Just a little guilt trip." She gave a soft laugh.

"Mom, you shouldn't blame yourself for what's happened the past few days. You haven't done anything wrong, all you did was survive. It's the same thing for me. If anything I should be having a guilt trip every time I think of you because of the things you've gone through just because I'm your son." John looked into his mother's eyes.

Sarah nodded an agreement but she looked at the comforter. "I know John but its just so hard not to. I mean I didn't even think about him _once_. I know that he doesn't have feelings. Or at least I think I know that because I don't think he was programmed with feelings. But that's not my point. My point is that he has to be feeling at least some sort of discomfort and did I even _think_ about that? No of course not."

John looked up at his mom in surprise. Even he hadn't thought about the fact that the machine could probably feel some sort of discomfort. Guiltily he played with the string on his sweatshirt.

"John. Your food is ready." The Terminator's voice seemed to echo up the stairs. "If Sarah is up tell her it will be ready in approximately five minutes. If she is not up I would suggest that you make it so that she is awake."

John looked up at his mother and gave her a devious grin.

"Mom, I wonder what would happen should a terminator be forced to eat."

Sarah laughed softly and took his hand. Together they walked downstairs.

************************************************************************

The aroma that greeted them when they entered the kitchen was almost _heavenly_. John's mouth immediately began to water as the scents teased his nose.

"It smells really good." He said as he headed towards the kitchen table. He looked at the bacon for a minute before picking it up to take a bite. As soon as he allowed his teeth to chomp on the crisp, and fully cooked meat he closed his eyes in pleasure. He sucked on the meat, allowing the flavor to sit in his mouth. "It tastes twenty times better than it smells, good job Terminator."

There was a moments pause before the machine replied with a gruff thanks.

"Sarah, yours is now ready." The Terminator limped over to the table and placed the plate of steaming food at her place.

Sarah inhaled deeply as she let the smell of home cooked food to waft through her senses. She bit into the food delicately at first then a bit more aggressively as the tender meat of the bacon filled her mouth. Now she understood what John had meant by his last comment. She studied the machine carefully as she examined his movements carefully.

The Terminator moved stiffly as if each movement was painful. He could barely stand and whenever he took another step the leg servos would whine a violent protest. She watched the stiff walk and critiqued his gate. The usually effortless gate was almost completely unrecognizable; instead of the long strides that made it seem as though he were floating over the ground, the Terminator was forced to move with an ambling shuffle. There was a low whining noise that issued from the chest cavity that would rise and waver with each step. It sounded almost as if the machine was grunting in pain.

"I'll do the dishes," Sarah said to the Terminator, "why don't you go sit down?"

The machine looked at her and managed to get its lip to curl into what Sarah and John both recognized as a smile of gratitude and relief. The Terminator limped over to the chair across from John and watched to the two of them eat in silence.

"Why do you eat?"

"You mean, like humans in general?"

"Yes"

"We eat to uh… what's the word?"

"Nourish?" Sarah supplied the word with carefully hidden smile.

"Yeah, uh we need it to nourish our bodies. Just like how a car needs fuel in order to run we need food and water so that our bodies will run like their supposed to. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Kind of." The Terminator sat in silence for a couple more minutes as he studied them. Then another question formed.

"Why do you sleep?"

"We have to…" John paused racking his brain for an answer. " We have to be able to recharge. Its like with your power cell that has to be replaced. Only ours need a replace every night and we do that by sleeping. And why can't you eat?"

"I have no stomach. Therefore the food would go into my main cell and ruin my current."

"Oh."

************************************************************************

"Come on." Sarah lifted as she pulled the machine to its feet. It staggered as the leg servo malfunctioned and caused the Terminator to sag downwards. The machine shook its head slightly before looking at her.

"I feel… dizzy." The Terminator said as he tried to get the whirling streaks of red that his eyes presented him with to stop. The data in his files told him that the world around him was not the mad whirling blur that his eyes were showing him.

Sarah looked over at John a hint of concern and fear showing in her eyes. What she felt was mirrored on the boy's face.

'So you can feel things now?" John asked the question, confused.

"Yes. Because you flipped the 'switch' on the old chip the data that made it so that I could learn and feel was also transferred to the new chip."

John nodded. "So does it hurt to move?"

"If you are referring to the unpleasant sensations that occur if I move to much or to fast then yes, it does." Was the Terminator's reply.

"Well right now you are going to tell us how to fix you." Sarah said as she led the machine to the garage. The walk to the garage was slow going, but they eventually made it to Sarah's goal. They hobbled to the bench that sat next to the workbench.

"What do we need to work on first?" Sarah asked as she started to pull out various tools.

"My arm." Was the two worded reply. "This way I can assist in the repair work that would damage you if not done properly."

The Terminator promptly asked for a knife, and once he had received one he quickly cut through the flesh that surrounded the damaged forearm. Once the incision had gone all the way around the limb, the Terminator pulled it off as though he were merely taking off a glove.

John looked away from the bloody scrap of flesh with a look of disgust.

Sarah gasped in dismay as the damage that had been sustained made itself pronounced. The wires and steel bars were severely crushed and mangled. "How are we going to wrench the frame back into place?" She asked as she examined the warped and twisted metal.

"You won't. I will." The Terminator replied as he gripped one of the metal frames and began to twist it in the other direction. The metal screamed a protest as it was wrenched in to another position. The low whine started up again in the Terminator's chest, causing him to vibrate. There was a sharp _crack_ as the metal snapped back into place. The Terminator winced slightly before gripping the bar below the one he had just fixed. Again he twisted the metal back into place as his gears hummed a protest at the strenuous work. He repeated the task two more times before he sat back, leaning up against the garage wall.

**********************************************************************

_At least that's one thing fixed. Thank the Lord his other arm wasn't damaged because I don't know how else we would have wrenched the steel bars back into place. _Sarah thought as she watched him work.

"Alright, now you need to attach this wire to this wire." The Terminator said, pointing to the two dangling wires.

Sarah set to work, carefully attaching the two wires together. Then she twisted them and began to wrap a piece of steel around the loose ends. The steel would protect the wires from harm.

"How's this? Feel better?" Sarah asked the question hopefully, watching the intently as the machine flexed his arm. This time the whirr that sounded as the machine moved the arm sounded smooth instead of botched.

"Yes, much better." The Terminator paused as it searched for the right words to say. "Thank you for helping me."

Sarah grinned, "No problemo."

John's mouth turned upwards into a smile.

************************************************************************

An hour later they were still in the garage. By now the Terminator's arm had been completely repaired and they were now working on his chest cavity. The Terminator had cut off the flesh and set it delicately on the tray that John had brought out. A spark flew off the Terminator's hands as he cautiously began to reconnect the two cords that led to his main power source. There was a strange _blizzzzzpp_, as the two cords connected together. He looked up at John and Sarah with a hesitant smile on his face. "The main power source is back en route." He said satisfactorily, before he continued to attach more of the ruptured wires back together.

"I can see what you mean about the possibility of me getting hurt from trying to repair you." Sarah said as she watched something that looked like electricity transfer from the wires and travel up his arms. The Terminator nodded slightly in response.

There was a loud _**bang**_as Sarah accidentally attached two different cords together. _Apparently these two don't go together,_ she thought wryly. There was a strained whirr as the Terminator recovered from the shock its system had just received. The machine shook its head in a fashion that reminded Sarah of a sleepy child that had just been woken from a nap.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me?" The machine joked. It proceeded to take the two wires from Sarah's hands. "This one has this colored bar on the side, here. Do see what I am talking about?" The machine asked the question as it pointed at the offending wire.

Sarah leaned forward and peered at the wire inspecting it closely. There was a small colored marking on the side of the wire. She nodded and answered with a yes. The Terminator pointed at the wire she had tried to attach the first one too.

"Look closely. The pattern and coloring on this one is different than the one you tried to attach it to. If you had continued to twist the two together after the spark you would have paralyzed me." The Terminator looked at her carefully, studying her face as she processed the information.

Dread swept through Sarah as she realized what had almost happened.

The Terminator cupped her chin with his hand and gently lifted her head up so that he could look her in the eyes. "It is not your fault. You did not know any better, if you had accidentally paralyzed me then I guess I would seem more human. Do not blame yourself because without mistakes you would never learn what to do." The machine released her face when it saw that she had interpreted what he had said.

Then with a wink the Terminator set back to work.

************************************************************************

"I need a hammer." The Terminator said as he inspected the broken chest armor that guarded his fuel cell. John handed him one and watched the machine in curiosity. The Terminator took it from the boy gently before putting it down inside the chest armor. He jerked his arm forward and there was a loud clang that echoed throughout the garage. He repeated the process until the armor pieces were back where they belonged. "Do you have a welder?"

John got up and rummaged through the workbench's drawers as he searched for the desired item. " I don't see one."

The Terminator gave an unsatisfied grunt in return, before his body suddenly went rigid. This time whine that issued from his chest cavity was very high pitched and angry.

Sarah looked up from the corner she was sitting in with a look of alarm on her face. Next to her was the pile of flesh that the Terminator had cut away from his endoskeleton. Each piece had been separated carefully and placed into a sanitary bag. Sarah had been injecting the chest piece with a fluid that the Terminator had told her would help to preserve the flesh and help it to reattach to the endoskeleton. She quickly emptied the syringe into the scrap of flesh before going over to the machine.

John was waving his hands in front of the Terminator's face as he tried a vain attempt to bring the machine out of its 'daze'. Nothing happened and John proceeded to jump up and down before tapping the machine's head. Nothing happened except for the same whining noise.

Sarah approached the malfunctioning machine cautiously. Unsure of what to do she put a timid hand onto the Terminator's steel shoulder. Suddenly the machine stopped its seemingly unending whine and looked up at her.

Suddenly the metal arm lashed out at fantastic speeds and grabbed Sarah's arm in a vice like grip. The Terminator pulled Sarah down to eye level before speaking.

"There is a virus in my systems. I need to shut down. Now." The machine let go of her arm and sat back. Then there was an audible beep and the machine's power cell flickered and died.

**Authors Note: Love it, hate it? I decided to do some happiness because, hey, they need it don't they?! I know you're probably like there's no way they can get away with that much money but it is a story so please suspend your disbelief about that. Remember to review!!**


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